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Key Takeaways
Community Education Profile
In Nemaska, the majority of adults have at least one type of diploma. Many adults in the community are also interested in pursuing further education: 83% of community members are interested in going back to school and 98% say they are encouraged by their parents to continue with schooling.
Despite these encouraging signs, 54% of adults withdrew from school at least once during their education. Those who experienced one or more interruptions in their educational journey were less likely to have completed a diploma. Disinterest, problems at school, and family responsibilities were the most common reasons people withdrew from school in Nemaska.
Educational pursuits are highly linked to job opportunities in the community. Nemaska Eenouch had the lowest job satisfaction rate of all communities, with only 27% of people saying they were satisfied with their current jobs. Many people were motivated to return to school for a better job, with 42% of people saying they would go back to school if it was required to get a promotion. In addition to training for a better job, the Starting a Business program was very popular among survey respondents. There are many ways Sabtuan Adult Education Services can respond to this demand, especially since the community is quite open to online learning and out-of-community programs.
The community education profile shows us where we are. Now, it’s time to find out where we can go from here.
Through our interviews and follow-up questions, we were able to identify success factors which impact current and prospective students in Nemaska. Understanding these factors will help us to set up services and supports that help adults achieve their educational goals.
We also found out community members’ program interests, and discovered how these interests aligned with community/employer needs (by reviewing CENA results from Apatisiiwin Skills Development and interviewing employers). This will help us select and offer programs that will support the community’s future.
It is important to note that any strategy we build must have a strong cultural foundation and a plan for continuous community collaboration.
These all must be considered as we build a local adult education strategy for Nemaska.
Ninety-nine percent (99%) of Nemaska community members agreed with the statement that “Education is important.” Despite this fact, 54% of respondents said they withdrew from school at least once, most often in Secondary III or IV. Of these, 43% say that boredom and disinterest were among their main reasons for withdrawing.
This data shows the importance of creating an engaging, inspiring environment for adult students. There are a few ways we can work to achieve this:
Quality teaching. Adult education students reported that their teachers were knowledgeable (94%), easy to communicate with (87%) and understanding of the Cree culture (74%). This plays an important role in their success.
Vocational teachers in the course knew how to show us, to understand things. They didn’t allow us to not understand things, they had to make us understand everything.
The transition to Adult Ed. was easy, they told me everything like what to expect, what I would need… They were really on it. They helped me get on it like if I missed a day that I didn’t do it. They’ll call me and say 'Can you come in? We need to finish this'.
Flexible schedules. Several interviewees in Nemaska reported working while going to school. Others may be caring for children at home or want time to visit out-of-community loved ones. For this reason, schedule preferences can vary a great deal in the community.
Many community members expressed openness to online learning options, which may be a way to support this need. Our new student financial assistance program may also make it less necessary for individuals to work and go to school at the same time.
Support services. In our interviews, we asked community members what supports may have helped them remain in school. Their recommendations included more tutoring, extracurriculars, and a breakfast club.
There should be a mentor or a guide in school. Someone to guide you, inspire you more.
— Community member going back to SAES
Tutoring. Also, sports teams, tournaments. Like a soccer team. You’d have to be in school if you wanted to join the team.— Community member without a diploma
The Cree School Board youth sector is actively working to increase many of these supports (for example, through Elephant Thoughts). If these efforts succeeding in increasing the Secondary V graduation rate in Nemaska, this may increase demand for vocational training and post-secondary programming in the adult sector.
Actions Taken
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Partial online learning implemented, including student laptops.
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Development of Cree-centric Teaching and Learning Framework.
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Expanded adult education team to include Coordinator of Student Success.
Next Steps
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Use new Cree-centric Teaching and Learning Framework to support culturally relevant practices in the classroom.
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Increase services (counselling, special needs support, etc.) to support the needs of all students.
Your Response
It’s your turn! What are other ways we can improve the learning experience for adult education students in Nemaska?
Family members have a significant impact on Nemaska adults going back to school. Students told us that that family members provided important support throughout their educational journey:
My parents showed a lot of support. The people that encouraged me and helped me made it easy. My grandma too – she’s also a bigtime supporter.
My mom and my grandmother. They wouldn’t let me miss a day of school, in the morning my mother would wake me up. My grandmother - I lived with her when I was younger, in grade school. She didn’t want me to quit.
My mom. She still tells me words like ‘keep going to school’ and ‘happy you made a change’.
My father. He tells me to get up. He pushed me. Encouraged me not to quit, keep going.
Students were particularly motivated by their parents’ own educational accomplishments:
My mother has a bachelor’s degree. It took her 10 years. When I want to quit when I’m doing a course, when she notices I don’t want to go to school, that’s what she says ‘look at me, it took 10 years. You’ve only been in school for 1 year’ [chuckles].
Seeing my parents who were in school too, when I was younger, that motivated me to pursue further my education… After I graduated, I wanted to find a trade I liked doing and stick to it. My parents supported me a lot, with this decision of going back to school. They supported me financially, bought me gear I would need for the program. They encouraged me to come and do the program.
In Nemaska, education is highly promoted by parents than elsewhere. Contrary to what was seen in the majority of communities, the education level, the age group, or gender did not seem to show any difference in parental behaviour:
Another important factor is the impact of adult students’ own children. Setting an example for children may motivate some students; however, the financial and time constraints of parenthood can also make going back to school difficult. We must be aware of these realities and prepared to support parents in any way possible.
Actions Taken
- Wellness Services Counsellor and teachers encourage students to reach out to support systems when needed.
Next Steps
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Provide mentors/support for students without close family ties.
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Provide information sessions and community events that allow family members to learn about adult education.
Your Response
It’s your turn! How can you help students in your family and community feel supported while in school?
Many potential adult education students in Nemaska are interested in deepening their cultural knowledge and skills., with the majority showing interest in culturally relevant programs. This interest aligns with our internal priorities at Sabtuan Adult Education Services, as we are working to both offer more culture/language programs and to increase the cultural relevance of all programs and services.
Entrepreneurship is also a key interest for adults in Nemaska; “Starting a Business” was the fourth most in-demand program according to our surveys. Programs that led to careers in construction and machinery were also popular, with top choices including Heavy Equipment Operator, Carpenter, and Heavy Machinery Mechanic. In general, program interest aligned closely with employer needs in the community, giving us a clear picture of the overall priority areas in terms of capacity building.
By combining community member data with employer feedback from Apatisiiwin Skills Developments’ CENA study, we were able to identify the highest-demand programs in Nemaska at present. This list of programs is by no means comprehensive, nor is it an official list of programs we are committed to offering. Other considerations, like feasibility of offering the program locally and the cultural component, will also be considered.
The Adult Learning Needs Assessment considered data from Apatisiiwin Skills Development (ASD)’s Community Employment Needs Assessment (CENA) in its program analysis. We also interviewed employers to follow up on the data. If you would like further information on the employment outlook in Nemaska, please contact ASD.
Program Delivery
The location of an educational program was very important in Nemaska. Nineteen percent (19%) of people would not attend a program outside of the community. The average across Eeyou Istchee is 23% meaning Nemaska Eeyouch are slightly more open to studying outside of the community; however, 42% say they would only attend if they could visit home regularly. Therefore, if it is not feasible to offer a program in Nemaska, Sabtuan Adult Education Services might consider promoting programs in nearby communities like Waskaganish to support capacity building in the community.
Another way to provide education is through technology. If a program of interest was not offered in their community, 73% of respondents would be open to taking a course either fully or partially online. Most people preferred a combination of online learning and in-person learning. As Sabtuan Adult Education Services has significantly increased its digital capacity over the past year, these are options we could explore to serve more students.
More information on program delivery can be found in the Community Education Profile.
Note: ALNA data was collected before the COVID-19 pandemic. Online learning readiness may have been impacted by recent events.
